Copper is King, Part 2. The Arizona Copper Museum

copper ceiling at the entry way w/copper butterflies

After the introduction to the beautiful Arizona Copper Museum yesterday,  you've just got to hear more about some of the very special exhibits and see some more of the beautiful copper work, especially if you cannot visit in person. 

As was mentioned, the museum is divided into different categories. The left photo is of the kitchen room. You probably knew that copper is the cookware of choice by most chefs in the world.  Did you also know it is always tin lined to protect it from food discoloration and copper toxicity? It's the only metal that has been cooked on continuously for eons. Below is a copper stove from the 1930's from a BARGE in Belgium.

The room with art and culture was beautiful, as all the rooms were. Sparky especially loved these pétanque balls from France. So beautiful!

The architecture and art room were just as amazing. Here is a copper dormer from the Carnegie Mansion in New York City. 

The room devoted to religion had this amazing copper frame called a riza that protected ancient portraits of religious figures. You had to be right in front of it to appreciate its beauty. And you could touch it if you wanted to. Out of reverence and a fear of the usual "DON'T TOUCH"! ingrained reprimands in the usual museums, Sparky didn't.

Everything about this museum is beautiful...the color of the walls setting off the hues of the copper, even the hooks that hang things are wrought iron and beautiful. This was in the beer and winemaking room.

And now, for the military room which was subtitled "Trench Art". Sparky found this room to be fascinating. This room contains a military art collection from WWI and WWII. The entire room is showcased with used brass (a copper and zinc alloy) artillery shells that have been made into souvenirs or mementos by soldiers ON THE BATTLEFIELD and in the trenches. 

It also had photos of the artillery that shot out these shells. One could vision the damage that a British QF18 pounder could yield with quick firing, shrapnel shells--374 bullets with a timed fuse. It could deliver 7,480 bullets per MINUTE.

Designs were thought of between battles and while not occupied, soldiers would collect lead bullets and debris along with the shells, melt the lead at their campfires to pour into the shell casings to provide a strong surface to scribe, hammer and dent the most amazing designs with just basic tools for the most part.

Prisoners would design a shell casing in exchange for food, cigarettes, wine, or money. When their design was complete, they melted the casing over the campfire again, and poured the molten lead back out to be used again. If the shells were sent home, they were repurposed as flower vases.

theme--cities

The designs were a multitude of themes--cities, battle commemorations, battle location of the soldiers, loved ones, patriotic symbols, symbols of faith and goodwill such as holly. Tools were improvised from damaged military equipment or purchased as professional tools. They took weeks to complete if complicated. Some were never finished and have lead remaining inside to this day. The size of the shell casings and reading about each country's artillery really makes one think about the horrendous damage caused by these machines. From an object of horror comes one of great beauty.

A typical shell casing size

Another part of the museum that was interesting was copper's role in the field of medicine. Sparky knew a few things, such as a little bit about the horseshoe crab, that has a hemocyanin copper based oxygen system, its blood turns blue when exposed to air, so to speak. According to the museum, the crab's blood is used by the FDA to test drugs, implants, and prosthetics because the crab's blood immediately coagulates and kills bacteria upon contact. The crab's blood is used to make a substance called LAL which is used for testing for contaminants in the  medial industry. What's sad is 10-30% of the crabs do not survive the bleeding procedure. There is concern that some day these ancient creatures that have survived for 450 million years may some day be wiped out. As you can imagine, a quart of the crab's blood is VERY expensive--15,000.00 a quart. The good side of all this? There IS an alternative to using crab blood, it's just been slow to be adopted by the medical industry with all its regulations. Why, that is not surprising at all, is it? It's called Factor C, a lab grown testing method and was first used in 2016 to test a drug. 

Copper has been used for centuries because of its antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. The doorknobs, railings, etc. in the converted high school-to-museum have copper doorknobs to help prevent infection. Copper and its alloys kill 99% of bacteria within 2 hours at room temperature! And there was lots more to digest. But Sparky doesn't want to tell you EVERYTHING!

So gosh, are you impressed yet with this museum! It's a treasure not to be missed when you are in the area. We hope you will check it out if you are...

Thanks for reading along with us, we will see you soon in Yuma....